Home Again

Good Morning...from Gresham~

We arrived home last evening after a wonderful 8 days of refreshment and rest.  It was an unusual experience for us, not talking by phone to the kids for the entire time.  They had a number they could use to call us if there was anything urgent (they didn't need to, thankfully) and we went to the internet cafe here and there to pick up and respond to messages from home. We had absolutely luxury accommodations.  'Our place' was the size of our entire house and the view was amazing.  Often when we got up early, we were able to enjoy seeing a cruise ship coming in to port for the day. Maybe my imagination, but the coffee seemed to taste even better with this beautiful view of creation.  We almost felt like we were on a ship...when we were sitting on the deck it seemed the Sea of Cortez was immediately on the other side of the railing.  We enjoyed some exotic looking little birds that would come by and occasionally a huge pelican would cruise low overhead. Seagulls seem to be pretty much the same wherever you meet them, but 'ours' were well behaved, seemingly content to just sit on the deck and wait,  I suppose hoping we'd eventually give in and share lunch with them.   I've been fascinated for years by Pelicans (ever since I saw them dive bombing in Panama when I was there with NW Medical Teams), so those were my favorite to watch.    Our friends recommended the glass bottom boat ride...it was a boat that would hold maybe 20, but there weren't that many of us. Mom wasn't feeling up to going the first day we went, but when she heard how much we enjoyed it, she wanted to go.  Larry & I enjoyed it enough to want to go again, so we went together on Friday morning.  The boat took us out into the Sea of Cortez, then out around the rocks that mark the tip of the Baha Pennisula, and then we were in the Pacific Ocean....all in about 45 minutes.  I was so thankful that I did not have even a twinge of motion sickness on either ride. We learned some of the local bus system and that was quite an experience.  Especially the day when we missed the place we should have gotten off...finally after a long ride thru some very rough dirt roads and poverty-stricken neighborhoods, our driver turned around with a perplexed look and inquired as to where exactly we were wanting to go.  He then flagged down a bus going the opposite direction and 30 minutes or so later we got off near the marina.  We all appreciated being able to get a small taste of how many people live and enjoyed seeing school children, moms and babies and others going about their daily lives.  

A special treat was my cousin Steve and his wife Julie being able to join us last Sunday.  Julie was given an extra week off of her chemo in order to come...she looks healthy and seemed to feel well all week.  

Except for one special breakfast (buffet!) we had our meals at our place.  Costco wasn't far, so we made one trip there and loaded up.  Walmart (with a grocery store) was much closer and we made it there several times.   No one experienced any sickness and we returned feeling refreshed.  

We so appreciate all of those who helped on the home front.  Anne had an excellent week with our friends, the Snodgrass family.  Our team at home (Missy, Cindy, Susan, Nichole, David & Jamie) did a great job with our little kids.  Melissa did a 'mini-ACAP' program (like Kristin was in last summer) taking Kristin somewhere special Mon-Friday.  They swam, skated, shopped, visited the zoo, park etc. and she did great!  Melissa's mom helped a lot with Kristin several years ago and she also went on some, if not all of the outings.  Except for hugging one person at the zoo, Missy said she was an angel and frequently verbalized the rules, including "Do not hug strangers" , "Do not touch strangers cars" (she likes to try the door handles in parking lots) "we're just looking" (a good rule if you're going to ToysRUS :o)  We are blessed to have all of these people in our lives that love our kids and are willing to care for them so we could really relax and enjoy this blessing.

It's back to school tomorrow for everyone.  David and Jamie did really well winter term at MHCC.  There's been some upheaval with the finances at their school, but while we were gone, we got an e-mail that the tuition for winter term was going to be paid (we had heard we might need to take care of it) so that was a great surprise.  They are now part of Clackamas Middle College and their principal graciously agreed to pay their spring tuition at Mt. Hood.  At this point we are planning on them being full time at Clackamas Community in the fall if their original college program phases out.  

I know I need to get Benjamin's surgery scheduled now that we're home, but I may drag my feet a few days before calling.  He's doing well except for his sinuses continuing to be an issue (sort of the norm for winter/spring for him)

Yesterday we flew from Cabo to LA.  Our flight was overbooked and I happened to be standing at the podium to ask a question when the guy asked for one volunteer to stay and the 9pm flight to Portland (this one was 5:30).  I said "I can do that".  So I bid Mom and Larry good-bye and settled back into reading a good book, getting a salad for dinner, talking to my close friend Debbie who is hospitalized with her Benjamin at LA Children's Hospital (sorry Deb...not quite enough time to come and see you, but June is comin').  The $400 in travel vouchers was a nice bonus! David picked Mom and Larry up at the airport as planned (Larry had to go to work) and then Susan arrived just after 11pm, with a blanket and a fresh cup of decaf in the car, and brought me home.  A very nice ending to a wonderful trip.

Enough from me....write and catch us up on what's happening in your family! Love, Janelle

PS:  Tomorrow a few more photos including Krissy on one of her outings!